April 20
After spending the night in Eaton we traveled about 30 minutes in the early cool morning to Pawnee National Grasslands.
This is a huge "big country" grassland that extends to the horizon. There are many many Western Meadowlarks and Horned Larks and Swainson's Hawks. We were successful in seeing the McCowan's Longspur which was another lifer for most of us. It is a beautiful bird with striking markings. It is also very elusive and favours the flat parts of the prairie. Jeff spotted several and we have several great looks (and photos) of the bird. We also looked hard and long for the Chestnut-collared Longspur but did not have any luck, so we are planning to go back tomorrow morning to try again. We had great looks at a huge White-tailed Jackrabbit. He was took off very quickly once he noticed us. We also saw the Pronghorn Antelope up close. Connie also started a stampede of the Pronghorn when she accidentally coughed while trying to get a photo of them. They took off running and all we could see were their white butts in the distance! We also saw two coyotes running and it was amazing how fast they were running. They did not notice us.
As far as the eye can see, these Grasslands have only a few shrubs and really almost no trees. There is the odd treed area where the landowners live. There are a couple of small ponds and that's it. Nothing like we have seen before. There are cattle guards to cross often as there are several pastures where the cattle roam freely. We had this happen this morning when there was a herd of cattle up on the road ahead. We started slowly and they cattle gradually moved off the road but kept moving with us. There were several calves who ran around with the cattle.
On one road, we went up a secondary trail with the vehicles so we could look over the side of the ridge. A local rancher came up to see what we were up to. We talked with him for quite a while and we got to ask questions that we had been wondering about. The fellow told us how many cattle his ranch had, how they grazed their cattle and told us the short grass was better for the cattle. He also told us how the ranch operated and that there were people who took care of the cattle at night. It was really interesting. He told us further birding spots where we may find some birds.
We had a good day today and it was the last day for the Richard and Alexander and Neil. They will leave for their long drive back to Ontario tomorrow morning. Jeff is going on to work in California and leaves Denver the same day we do. So we had a last dinner with everyone this evening at the local Country Club which is open to the public in Eaton. It was the best meal we had yet and it was reasonably priced. We had a group photo taken also. We will miss Richard, Alexander and Neil and Jeff too once we get to California. It has been a wonderful Colorado birding trip. We can't believe that two weeks have gone so quickly and we have one more day left here. Colorado is an amazing place with many diverse habitats, animals and especially birds. Connie is packing right now and Jane is on her Ipod and I am just completing this and will have to get organized as we have another early morning start which has become the norm on this trip.
Here are some of the birds today along with the Pronghorn. Loggerhead Shrike, Western Meadowlark and our lifer McCowan's Longspur
After spending the night in Eaton we traveled about 30 minutes in the early cool morning to Pawnee National Grasslands.
This is a huge "big country" grassland that extends to the horizon. There are many many Western Meadowlarks and Horned Larks and Swainson's Hawks. We were successful in seeing the McCowan's Longspur which was another lifer for most of us. It is a beautiful bird with striking markings. It is also very elusive and favours the flat parts of the prairie. Jeff spotted several and we have several great looks (and photos) of the bird. We also looked hard and long for the Chestnut-collared Longspur but did not have any luck, so we are planning to go back tomorrow morning to try again. We had great looks at a huge White-tailed Jackrabbit. He was took off very quickly once he noticed us. We also saw the Pronghorn Antelope up close. Connie also started a stampede of the Pronghorn when she accidentally coughed while trying to get a photo of them. They took off running and all we could see were their white butts in the distance! We also saw two coyotes running and it was amazing how fast they were running. They did not notice us.
As far as the eye can see, these Grasslands have only a few shrubs and really almost no trees. There is the odd treed area where the landowners live. There are a couple of small ponds and that's it. Nothing like we have seen before. There are cattle guards to cross often as there are several pastures where the cattle roam freely. We had this happen this morning when there was a herd of cattle up on the road ahead. We started slowly and they cattle gradually moved off the road but kept moving with us. There were several calves who ran around with the cattle.
On one road, we went up a secondary trail with the vehicles so we could look over the side of the ridge. A local rancher came up to see what we were up to. We talked with him for quite a while and we got to ask questions that we had been wondering about. The fellow told us how many cattle his ranch had, how they grazed their cattle and told us the short grass was better for the cattle. He also told us how the ranch operated and that there were people who took care of the cattle at night. It was really interesting. He told us further birding spots where we may find some birds.
We had a good day today and it was the last day for the Richard and Alexander and Neil. They will leave for their long drive back to Ontario tomorrow morning. Jeff is going on to work in California and leaves Denver the same day we do. So we had a last dinner with everyone this evening at the local Country Club which is open to the public in Eaton. It was the best meal we had yet and it was reasonably priced. We had a group photo taken also. We will miss Richard, Alexander and Neil and Jeff too once we get to California. It has been a wonderful Colorado birding trip. We can't believe that two weeks have gone so quickly and we have one more day left here. Colorado is an amazing place with many diverse habitats, animals and especially birds. Connie is packing right now and Jane is on her Ipod and I am just completing this and will have to get organized as we have another early morning start which has become the norm on this trip.
Here are some of the birds today along with the Pronghorn. Loggerhead Shrike, Western Meadowlark and our lifer McCowan's Longspur
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